Nigerian-British actress, Genoveva Umeh, has disclosed that even though acting has always been her passion, she didn’t study it initially.
According to her, she studied law in university but realized that acting was truly her passion after failing in her first year of law.
The Far From Home star revealed this during the latest episode of the “Is This Seat Taken” podcast, hosted by Nollywood actress Chinasa Anukam.
She said, “Studying law was my decision. However, I also realized that as a first-generation immigrant, I knew how hard my parents worked to get me into the UK.
“So, I didn’t want to pursue a course that I just considered as a hobby. I thought acting was merely a hobby.
“I went from viewing acting as a hobby during my time in university, thinking that after graduation, I would come back and pursue it.
“But that didn’t happen until I failed my first year. Failing my first year of law was when I realized that I needed to start considering what I truly wanted to do, rather than what I felt I had to do.”
A while ago, Genoveva stated that she’s not interested in being anyone’s role model and simply wants to be herself.
The thespian stated this in a chat with Midweek Entertainment.
Genoveva reiterated that she doesn’t want to be a role model to anyone; rather, she wants to live her normal life and not be driven by the urge to make decisions based on public expectations.
“I think my only challenge is I still want to be myself, I still want to do great work and I don’t want to get caught up in the fame. Those are the things I want to focus on. Also, as much as people are really inspired by my work, I don’t think of myself as a role model. I’m not a role model, I’m just someone who cares about her work and if people are inspired by that, that’s great.
“But I don’t want people to attach themselves to everything I do or hold me accountable for certain decisions that I make. I want to live free, I want to be myself and I still want to do great work without the pressure of people’s expectations.” She said.